[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

That's kind of why I was thinking about the HiFiman EF-5, it has low impedance, high current output. Here's one in the FS forum, the guy might take less than his $350 asking price:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/615827/hifiman-ef-5-some-tubes-and-upgraded-op
I have it and it's a great match with the Q701s.

I'm looking at amps under $200.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I just personally don't like to deal with tubes. I know my NFB5 puts out like 1.5 watts of power to the Q701, and gives the Q701 a very full sound. I'd say it has better synergy with the Q701 than the D7000. If I was getting an amp only piece, I'd look into the C-2.2. It's even more powerful than the NFB5.

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/C-2new/C2.2EN_Specs.htm

Just wanna say, I like my NFB5 more than I ever liked the Lyr. I'm just a pure SS guy.

edit: Under $200? Hmm, slim pickings.

 

[Madmollusk]

I like the Little Dot MK III; it's not a high end amp by any means, but it sure has enough juice to power the Qs. With some Mullard ef95 tubes installed, the soundstage is wide and immersive (with my fiio e9 the soundstage is just wide); the bass punchy and deep; the mids full and at times just a tad forward. But best of all, the treble is detailed without brightness, sibilance or glare. (I'm sure some of these qualities, in part at least, are attributable to quality tubes.) Oh! I should also add: you can buy the Little Dot Mk iii for a trivial $179.00 on ebay. 

I'm looking at amps under $200.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Little Dot MKIII

So is the little Dot MKIII a hybrid?
Tubes are nice with high Ohm headphones, but the Q701 is only 62-ohm.
So I would assume the Little Dot MKII is a solid state and tube headphone amplifiers?
As solid state is better at drving lower Ohm headphones.

 

[Madmollusk]

No, the little dot mk iii is exclusively a tube amp, but it has three power output settings: 32, 120 and 600ohm. This amp seems to have plenty of headroom when driving the Qs. The sound is very full (not in the least bit anemic), so I suppose there's plenty of voltage to really drive these cans. But I'm pretty noobish when it come to this  technical stuff, so that's all I can really say. Maybe someone else here wouldn't mind answering your questions more specifically. I would really hate to mislead you in any way.  

So is the little Dot MKIII a hybrid?
Tubes are nice with high Ohm headphones, but the Q701 is only 62-ohm.
So I would assume the Little Dot MKII is a solid state and tube headphone amplifiers?
As solid state is better at drving lower Ohm headphones.

 

[KimLaroux]

Quote:

This has already been debated to death. 
 
[...]
 
I could probably take apart the Q701 and look at the insides.  I've taken a K400 apart and the Q's look similar.  But the Q701s are my babies, and I'm scared!!

 
I would advice against it. I opened my Q701 a few times to try tuning them. It's a real PITA. It's impossible to disassemble them without leaving traces. What's more, the build quality is poor and it's easy to damage them during reassembly. It's clearly a commercial product that isn't meant to be serviced.
 
I actually never succeeded in reaching the back of the drivers. You have to unsolder the wires and cut the elastic to get there. I can't even imaging how troublesome it would be to completely disassemble two of them to compare every parts by parts.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

 
I would advice against it. I opened my Q701 a few times to try tuning them. It's a real PITA. It's impossible to disassemble them without leaving traces. What's more, the build quality is poor and it's easy to damage them during reassembly. It's clearly a commercial product that isn't meant to be serviced.
 
I actually never succeeded in reaching the back of the drivers. You have to unsolder the wires and cut the elastic to get there. I can't even imaging how troublesome it would be to completely disassemble two of them to compare every parts by parts.

 
Thanks for the warning.  When I took the K400s apart it was to replace the elastics, and that was a PITA too.
 
Quincy Jones clearly never expected people would try and service them.

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

This has already been debated to death. 
 
AFAIK, no one has disassembled the Q701s to see if they're actually identical.  Yes, I know the service manual says they should be.  It's possible the Q701s have some different damping on the back of the driver.
 
I was skeptical too that they could sound different, for the same reasons you are.  It doesn't make sense that they would sound different.  I didn't want to keep going over the debate again and again, so I ordered a pair of K702 to compare directly to my Q701 myself.  The pair I compared back to back, A-B, on the same setup, etc. DID have all the changes we've been describing between about them (I think you've already seen that thread).  I was surprised that the difference between them was as large as it was.  I was expecting a minor difference that could be attributed to variation in production, but the difference I heard sounded intentional. 
 
 
I don't know why my pair was so different.  I'm welcome to suggestions.  I'm not a huge believer in burn-in.  The Q701s were bassy and warm for me out-of-the-box.  I was surprised at how much bass they had the first day I put them on.  Both AKG pads look pretty new and identical.  I doubt any subtle changes between them could add several dB to the bass.
 
I know others like Tyll have heard them the as sounding the same. That to me is the confusing part.  If he heard the pair I heard, I guarantee he would have wrote a completely different comparison.  The only thing I can think of is AKG has had some variation in the x70x  over time (intentionally or unintentionally?...)  That could explain why some sound the same, and some sound different....
 
 
I could probably take apart the Q701 and look at the insides.  I've taken a K400 apart and the Q's look similar.  But the Q701s are my babies, and I'm scared!!

Don't do it my friend, I believe you!
 
I'll drop the subject, thanks guys

 

[Duncan]

...I have to say, feed these with a nice high quality source (and, lets face facts, my setup is far from high end!) and they sing oh so sweetly!
 
Very happy with this purchase, completely surpasses the Z1000 for my music choices... Oh well, something else to go on the FS section I guess lol...

 

[Soundfreak33]

Sold my Q701s today

, going to go back and try the K550s again or the HD 650s, i hope i dont regret this, thanks for everybodys help.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Sold my Q701s today

, going to go back and try the K550s again or the HD 650s, I hope I don't regret this, thanks for everybodys help.

So what did you not like about the Q701?

 

[Soundfreak33]

I guess it came down to they were just to bright for my taste, the highs were just to high i guess,  the bass was very nice i will say, i guess i need a slightly warmer overall sound.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Ironically, he didn't even try them with an amp. The Q701 without an amp can have harsh highs. I don't blame the Q701 at all. You gave up too quickly. I guess you'll just wanna stick to ampless headphones, because you're not giving them a proper chance at all.

 

[Posam]

The only time I have heard the 701 (or 702 idk which it was) I heard it paired with one of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000BV1LT/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004O45IV4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=08PGTGM1F6M8NXJ4JSTB straight out of a mac
 
(it was a creek and I think this one) and it sounded pretty boring and had no life to the music. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't engaging. I guess I always heard good things about the AKGs but could they have been limited by the amp I heard them through or was that 90%+ of what they have to give and they just aren't for me. 
 
I will say the soundstage was really good from what I heard though. 

 

[Soundfreak33]

Ok i gave up to early i guess, i was told by a memer here that i dont need to amp them, im can see that i do need a amp regardless of what i get.  I may end up wiith them again with a amp, who knows.
 
I have the K550s right now and am playing with them, i can see i need a amp no matter what i get.